The present disclosure generally relates to porous structures such as nanostructures and particularly wholly or partially inorganic porous structures. These types of structures are in ever-increasing global demand for applications including but not limited to gas separation, liquid separation, printed electronics substrates, solid oxide fuel cells, and lithium batteries.
A porous structure may be a selective barrier comprised of inorganic and/or organic materials with varying dimensions and pore sizes. Such structures may have enhanced thermal, mechanical, chemical, and/or electrical properties compared to other structures.
Examples of porous structures include nanostructures, which may be man-made objects having one, two, or three-dimensions in the sub-micrometer to nanometer range. A nanostructure may be porous or non-porous, as well as comprised of organic and/or inorganic materials.
Functions for these types of structures include separation, immobilization, contacting, and/or controlled release. With such an array of functions, it is therefore apparent why these type of structures have a large number of industrial applications including but not limited to water treatment, chemical purification, recovery and concentrating of substrates, dialysis, electrophoretic painting, semiconductor manufacture, controlled release in agriculture, fuel cells, and the like.
The global demand for some of the subject structures was estimated to be approximately USD$ 18.4 billion in 2014. Driven by new developments and innovations in materials science and process technologies, the market is expected to grow around 8% annually to reach USD$ 26.10 billion by 2020.
In an attempt to meet such demand, the instant application discloses a novel fabrication method of generating a porous structure and products made by these and related methods.